NOMADS HISTORY IN SPAIN

March 2008

MATCH 1  NOMADS CC  v Sporting Alfas Midweek XI March 14th 2008,  12.30pm, Woodbridge Oval Albir L’Alfas Del Pi Spain-40 overs each innings ,8 overs max per bowler

               Gentle Victory no Preparation For Saturday!
  

On a warm, sunny day  later, after tea, blighted by a spell of chilly sea mist, Jeff Bellis won the toss for the home side and elected to bat. Hall and Kellington put on 45 for the first wicket until Hall perished for 11 in the 14th over,followed first ball by Ben Mariner both to Nomads skipper Blumberg. Kellington and Taylor then put together a partnership of 49 before Taylor went for 11 in the 25th. Kellington himself went next for a fortunate 69 with the score on 104 for four after 29 overs. Out strode guest batsman Akmal, who smashed his way to a fine 43 to take the total to somewhere approaching respectability before himself falling in the last over to the offspin of Imran . Three  Nomads slow bowlers got among the wickets with excellent spells from Mudasser (3- 34),skipper  Blumberg (2-26) and Barter (2-7).

Despite a tidy opening spell from Peter Pakham – with only ten runs accruing from his six overs – the Nomads’ opening pair were quick to punish anything loose and soon raced to three figures. When Barter eventually fell – to an excellent diving catch by Howden in the deep off Bellis for 66 – the score stood at 121 – and there were still 19 overs remaining. Howe struck a lively 35 before falling to Kellington’s first ball and Latchman carried his bat for an accomplished 59 so Nomads reached their modest target with 13 overs to spare. 

Result:  Nomads won by 7 wickets 
Toss:    Sporting Alfas    
Umpires: Gordon Leach & J Oliver
Scorer:  Various
Debut(s):Imran,Yaser,Mudasser & Azar 

SPORTING ALFAS MW XI Innings
C Hall       c Imran b Blumberg 11
G Kellington c Yaser b Barter   69
B Marriner   bowled    Blumberg  0
P Taylor     st Azar b Mudasar  11
I Perrins    c Imran b Barter   10
A Ackmal     bowled    Imran    43
D Rose       bowled    Mudasar   0
+R Nix       st Azar b Mudasar   9
P Packham    st Azar b Imran     1
J Howden     lbw     b Imran     0
*J Bellis    not out             0
Extras      (b4,lb1,w6,nb3)     14
TOTAL     (All out,39.5 overs) 171

Fow:1-45,2-69,3-95,4-100,5-11,6-117,7-151,8-171,9-171,10-171.

Bowling-Yaser 8 1 30 0,Watson 3 0 11 0,Blumberg 8 0 26 2,Imran 6.5 0 23 3,Barter 7 0 44 2,Mudasar 8 0 34 3.

NOMADS CC Innings
S Barter   c Howden b Bellis     66
R Latchman not out               59
J Howe     c Ackmal b Kellington 35
+A Azar    bowled                 0
Y Yaser    not out                8
Extras    (b4,lb0,w0,nb0)         4
TOTAL     (3 wickets,27 overs)  172
Dnb:F Watson,V Gavin,I Imran,M Mudasar,J Hyams,ME Blumberg

Fow:1-121,2-158,3-166.

Bowling-Howden 5 0 36 0,Packham 6 3 10 0,Perrins 3 0 24 0,Taylor 6 0 37 0,Bellis 3 0 25 1,Marriner 1 0 10 0, Ackmal 2 0 24 1,Kellington 1 0 8 1. 

MATCH 2  NOMADS CC  v Sporting Alfas CC March 15th, 2008,  12.30pm,  Woodbridge Oval Albir L’Alfas Del Pi Spain-40 overs each innings ,8 overs max per bowler,12 bat ,11 field

                             Nomads to the Slaughter 
A murky Saturday at the the Woodbridge Oval saw   Nomads win the toss and elect to bat ,Despite a strong batting line up the innings was soon in ruins as   Faran (2-8) and Muñoz opened the bowling with good effect by knocking over the   top three with only 29 on the board. Skipper Laundon (2-4) and Jake Sunderland from the Under 16s (2-40) combined to take the next three wickets with tight spells of good swing bowling, which, along with a run out without facing of Ackmal, further reduced the visitors to 67-8 in the 24th over. Guests  Imran (60) and  Aslam (36) managed to push the target up to 189 with some bold hitting, but it was never going to be enough unless Nomads bowling and fielding were to excel.This was a total swelled by 19 wides! For some reason the scorer on the day failed to add in the runs made by the 12th batsman(3*) nor did the umpires correct this. Thus Alfas chased 186,not that it mattered in the event! Wasim  who took 4-25 against us last October  was not employed! 

After the interval, play resumed with Pennick and Ali opening the innings against a young attack  which played straight into the hands of the belligerent Ali by bowling consistantly too short on the benign surface. They smashed four sixes in the first eight overs.Shafiq Ali was well caught by Watson early on but inexperienced umpire Alan Bacon invoked a Spanish league rule not agreed to by the two skippers before the match. This would hardly have altered the result but at least made the game more even.   Pennick who was frequently mistiming nevertheless retired back to the hut on 50 having posted a third consecutive three-figure opening stand of the season with his prolific partner. Faran’s knock of 25 not out was the perfect foil to the swashbuckling Ali, who eventually perished for 102 – giving the visiting attack their only wicket of the afternoon – but only after posting his second ton of the season. Alfas reached their target with 16 overs remaining.(Shafiq played for Nomads several years ago before becoming an Alfas member)

In fact left arm slow Gulzar looked promising and had the skipper opened one end with him as  he had planned the openers may well have had to work harder.

This was as comprehensive a defeat as Nomads have ever suffered in Spain and the Benidorm effect can only have been responsible for two of our top batsmen’s demise.

Result:  Sporting Alfas won by 10 wickets 
Toss:    Nomads    
Umpires: Ron Graham & Alan Bacon 
Scorer:  Various
Debut(s):Gulzar,Aslam,Ackmal.

NOMADS CC Innings
S Barter    c MS Ali    b Muñoz        7
R Latchman  c MS Ali    b Faran Ufsal  4
P Stanfield lbw         b Faran Ufsal 11
J Howe      bowled        Laundon      7
G Gulzar    bowled        Sunderland   7
N Fletcher  c MS Ali    b Mudasar      8
A Ackmal    run out                    0
V Gavin     lbw         b Mudasar     10
I Imran     c Crompton  b Mudasar     60
F Watson    c Mudasar   b Sunderland   8
A Aslam     c MS Ali    b Laundon     36
ME Blumberg not out                    3
Extras      (b2,lb5,nb2,w19)          28
TOTAL       (All out,38.1 overs)     189*

Fow:1-11,2-29,3-29,4-44,5-44,6-46,7-55,8-67,9-137,10-179,11-189.

Bowling-Faren Ufsal 6 1 8 2,Muñoz 6 0 20 1,Sunderland 8 1 42 2,Lounden 5.1 2 4 2,Crompton 2 1 6 0,Mudasar 8 0 55 3,Metcalf 3 0 40 0,Hickie 1 0 7 0. 

SPORTING ALFAS CC Innings
P Pennick  retired hurt        50
MS Ali     c Aslam b Gulzar   105
F Afzal    not out             25
G Crompton not out              5
Extras     (b2,lb2,w2,nb1)      7
TOTAL    (1 wicket,24.2 overs)190
Dnb:G Metcalf,Wasim Ul-Rehman,C Munoz,Mudasar Yousaf,K Laundon,J Sunderland,J Hickie,AN Alfaz 

Fow:1-185

Bowling-Aslam 4 0 32 0,Ackmal 4 0 38 0,Gulzar 8 1 46 1,Blumberg 5 0 39 0,Imran 3 0 27 0,Fletcher 0,2 0 4 0. 

MATCH 3  NOMADS CC  v Sporting Alfas Sunday XI March 16th, 2008,  12.30pm,  Woodbridge Oval Albir L’Alfas Del Pi Spain-40 overs each innings ,8 overs max per bowler

                          Comprehensive Victory
On Sunday, the Nomads demolished a weak Alfas Sunday side by 10 wickets. In the circumstances it was unfortunate that Alfas won the toss and elected to bat. They were soon rueing that decision after losing the quick wickets of Ul-Rehman, Seekings, Sunderland and Marriner. The initial opener MacInnes, who had retired hurt after being hit in the face by a  short delivery from one of the Nomad’s opening seam bowlers, returned at the fall of the sixth wicket and offered some resistance with Cowley. But this only delayed the inevitable and with the last 4 wickets of Alfas falling without a run being added, the final total failed to register three figures. The pick of the Nomads bowlers were Wasim (2-10), Usman (2-18) and Howe (2-12).

At the restart the Nomad openers scored briskly at over five an over, and with both batsman showing good form distinctly absent the day before, the result was never in doubt. The openers surpassed the Alfas total after just 15 overs with Barter completing his second half century of the tour. Alfas teenagers Sunderland and Metcalfe bowled well considering the low total they had to defend, and some enthusiastic fielding by Seekings and Griffen were the only positives Alfas could take from a day they will quickly want to forget. For Nomads it was a long way to come for so little batting and no compensation for Saturday’s disaster. 

Result:  Nomads won by 10 wickets 
Toss:    Sporting Alfas    
Umpires: Brian Pitts & Jerry Oliver
Scorer:  J Sunderland 
Debut(s):Hassan,Amin,Usman.

SPORTING ALFAS CC Innings
I MacInnes   bowled       Wasim     2
B Seerings   bowled       Usman    18
S Ul-Rehman  bowled       Usman    15
J Sunderland c Hassan   b Yaser     5
C Griffith   c Yaser    b Blumberg 10
S Cowley     c & b        Amin     15
B Marriner   st Hassan  b Wasim    17
G Metcalf    c Latchman b Howe      5
J Howden     c Barter   b Howe      0
P Packham    c Yaser    b Amin      0
J Bellis     not out                0
Extras      (b2,lb0,w5,nb0)         7
TOTAL       (All out,33.2 overs)   94

Fow:1-26,2-41,3-41,4-52,5-71,6-73,7-93,8-94,9-94,10-94.

Bowling-Yaser 6 0 29 1,Usman 6 2 18 2,Wasim Ul-Rehman 8 4 10 2,Blumberg 8 1 23 1,Howe 3 1 12 2,Amin 2.2 2 0 2.

NOMADS CC Innings
S Barter   not out              54
V Gavin    not out              32
Extras    (b0,lb6,w3,nb1)       10
TOTAL     (0 wickets,15.3 overs)96 Dnb:H Hassan,F Watson,A Amin,Y Yaser,U Usman,ME Blumberg,Wasim Ul-Rehman,R Latchman,J Howe

Fow:

Bowling-Sunderland 4 0 14 0,Packham 4 0 16 0,Bellis 4 0 30 0,Metcalf 3 0 21 0,Howden 0.3 0 9 0.

MATCH 4  NOMADS CC  v Forty Club Of Spain March 17th, 2008,  1.00pm,  Woodbridge Oval Albir L’Alfas Del Pi Spain- Declaration game.

                                             Bill Curness takes out middle order

Apparently there was a festival in Valencia and so our friends failed to turn up despit a series of frantic telephone calls to George Wambeek and Shafiqe.This was a pity as had they told us the night before three of four cricketers could have enjoyed a game. As it was Helen and Katrina bravely donned the pads and a visiting spectator Alan Hartley also played.

Nomads seemed to be coasting towards a substantial total when Bill Curness deceived Julian Howe.This precipitated a mini collapse as Barter fell for a golden duck by way of a Gordon Leach lbw decision,Vince Gavin despite 37 not out the day before went also for a duck and so Nomads were 110-4.

Ranjit added 19 with Jack Hyams and then 28 with the skipper. Attempting a pull off a leg stump ball he was deceived by a low bounce and was bowled for 81. Out strode Helen Cooper and 6 more were added.Then Katrina came in who scrambled a single.Skipper Blumberg aiming a improbable drive at the    Confort Apartment block instead  gave an inside edge catch catch to Bobby Nix. Katrina was then out bowled by that bully Braithwaite! so the innings finished on 163 of which Ranjit had hit half the runs.

Otherwise retired as bowlers Julian Howe and Floyd Watson spurned the shoulder pain and opened with a hostile burst that reduced the Forty Club to 45-3. Blumberg removed the dangerous Geddes and Simon Barter swapping the gloves with Ranjit then took two including Stanfield so when Blumberg removed Kellington the Forty Club were 135-8 still needing 29 for victory. However Ward nudged and Bacon smote, not without errors, and the total was reached in the 38th over with a mighty blow from Alan Bacon. 

Helen and Katrina using their feet to stop many balls had made a great contribution in the field and still walked next day! In the circumstances although defeated Nomads with depleted resources had contested the match well.

Result:  Forty Club won by 3 wickets 
Toss:    Nomads    
Umpires: Brian Pitts & Gordon Leach & others  
Scorer:  Various 
Debut(s):Alan Hartley.

NOMADS CC Innings
R Latchman  bowled        Norton      81
F Watson    c Stanfield b Braithwaite 28
J Howe      bowled        Curness     37
S Barter    lbw         b Curness      0
V Gavin     bowled        Curmess      0
J Hyams     c Ward      b Curness      4
ME Blumberg c Nix       b Kellington   4
H Cooper    c Geddes    b Norton       0
K Barter    bowled        Braithwaite  1
A Hatley    not out                    0
Lost in Valencia absent                0
Extras     (b2,lb1,w4,nb0)             7
TOTAL      (All out,38.2 overs)      163

Fow:1-52,2-107,3-107,4-110,5-129,6-157,7-163,8-163,9-163.

Bowling-Braithwaite 6.2 0 34 1,Kellington 10 0 40 1,Curness 10 0 39 4,Bacon 5 1 27 0,Norton 7 2 20 2.

FORTY CLUB OF SPAIN Innings
D Rose        bowled       Watson   14
K Geddes      c Watson   b Blumberg 29
G Evans       c Latchman b Watson    7
J Braithwaite c Latchman b Watson    0
R Ward        not out               34
P Stanfield   c Latchman b Barter   20
W Curness     c Latchman b Barter    5
G Kellington  c Barter   b Blumberg 17
A Bacon       not out               15
Extras        (b8,lb5,w13,nb0)      26
TOTAL        (7 wickets,37.1 overs)167
Dnb:R Nix,R Norton.

Fow:1-27,2-41,3-41,4-64,5-80,6-100,7-120,8-135.

Bowling-Howe 7 0 34 0,Watson 10 1 45 3,Blumberg 12 1 46 2,Barter 8.1 2 29 2.

  Nomads in Spain       Cricket In Spain

 March 2008 Spain Tour Summary

 The Story Of The President’s Astonishing Call For A second run in Pictures

 Sporting Alfas Cricket Club Web Site